All the Sermons

Revelation 3:7-13 Imagine if you will, what it would be like to be shunned by your family, or by your church family. What if we decided that you had made a bad choice and we felt the right thing to do would be to take you by the sleeves and lead you to the door, push you out and shut the door in your face as you turned around to plead with us for mercy? Where would you go next? Ahh, but what if you had already made some new friends and they had told you about a wonderful person who was really good to know. What if the person you were turning to was the reason your old family and friends were shunning you? What if you also believed that this new person had the truth about eternal life and you longed to share that great news with the people who kicked you out of their lives? You are beginning to feel like a former Jew in Philadelphia who has come to new life through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, the genuine Messiah. You are also beginning to feel what I felt like at le...

Revelation 3:1-6 Have you seen the bumper sticker that says Coexist, creating the letters using symbols from different religions? Here is a link that includes a photo: http://www.blufftonicon.com/news/2012/03/12/co-exist-bumpersticker-and-its-meaning It begins with the crescent moon and star of Islam. Next, the peace sign, so familiar from the 60’s is actually a wiccan symbol, the e is combined with the symbols for male and female so it represents science. Then comes the star of David for the Jews. The I is replaced by another symbol of pagan worship. The s is the Chinese yin and yang symbol and finally there’s the cross of Christ. Interesting that to do this, the symbol of Islam has to come first and Christianity comes last. I am sure the designer was pleased with that. But we can be pleased with that too since we know that the last shall be first and the first shall be last. The idea portrayed here sounds like Rodney King saying, “Can’t we all just get along?” There is a ...

Revelation 2:18-29 Truth or consequences. How many here remember that game show? Here’s a sample. http://www.tubechop.com/watch/6592579 Did you notice how carefully Bob explained the circumstances and the consequences?  Did you see the consequences that resulted from taking bad advice? Both a loser and maybe a fight outside (Ok, that part was just a joke. So the joke was the consequence!) How about parenting? You have to issue warnings to the kids sometimes and instructions for good behavior often come with descriptions of consequences for bad behavior. The best consequences are the natural consequences that are the actual result of the bad behavior. That’s not arbitrary. It’s like, don’t touch the stove or you will burn your hand and that will hurt. That’s a description of natural consequences. It’s different from, “Don’t touch the stove or I will send you to your room.” That’s a different kind of consequence. It can sound arbitrary and unrelated to the offense. But it is...

Revelation 2:12-17 Have you ever had a job performance review with your boss or supervisor? In my past that always happened in private, just between me and my employer. So I am assuming that’s the way it usually is. Now, you may really like the idea of sitting in on someone else’s review to see how they are doing and if the boss gets it right and thinks of them in the same way you do. But how would you like it if everybody else you worked with got to hear what the boss really thinks of you? As Kathy and I were praying for our missionaries last week we realized that our missionaries have to give regular reports to their supporting churches every time they come home on furlough. Even in our own business meetings, the various committees report on their activities. I submit the pastor’s report. So what would happen if everybody had to submit a report? Do you see yourself as a servant of God? If so, what would be in your report? What have you really been doing to serve the Lord and wha...